I find myself constantly having to say out loud, “thank you” to my manager, Josh. I think most employees would expect to hear a canned, “you’re welcome” back but that’s not the relationship that we have. I smirk at his response; “good, sometimes I don’t think you know how good you have it here.” The truth is that I don’t. Instead, I remind myself that it’s 5:30 on a random Thursday, and work-related talk can wait until the morning. The heat outside is still suffocating, but it’s cool along the river where the owners of Mad*Pow, Josh, a handful of co-workers and myself share a drink, a story and a laugh together.
Three years ago I left my college graduation with a hole in my stomach where the securities of adolescence once lived. Without a clue of where I wanted to be, who I was and what I was good at. I was unsure how to proceed into the world to make something of myself. The one thing I was certain of was that I would be in the vicinity of the ocean. Having grown up surfing steps from the beach, an inland compromise was not one I was willing to make.
Enter a rainy week day where I headed north to a secret beach to surf for a bit. Who do I run into but Will Powley (Mad*Pow CCO), on his “surf lunch”. We talked briefly and he said I should stop by to check out the intern position he had available.
Fast forward two years to today. I rode my bike to work today, a hilarious 1 mile from home. My wife and I ate breakfast together outside in a downtown café’ before we both headed off to work at 8:30. I have a lot of work today, including writing this post. I have so much respect for every single individual that works at Mad*Pow. I believe in them, and that allows me to pursue my work honestly and confidently. These people that have become my closest friends and family are winning awards and taking names. Not only is the work incredible, but we’re making the Inc. 500 while doing so. Are you kidding me? Where else would I fit in? How would my life be different without these people?
A fellow Mad*Powian said to me last night, “I find myself having to apologize to my friends because of how great my job is”. I think that pretty much sums it up. Around here, everyone works really hard, and they play hard too. For now, I have to get back to work. There’s going to be waves tomorrow and I want make sure I can go for a surf on my lunch break.